Eight million Mozambican children vaccinated against polio, measles (AFP)

MAPUTO (AFP) - More than eight million children have been vaccinated against measles and polio in Mozambique in a nearly eight-month-long campaign, Health Minister Ivo Garrido said.

"During this campaign, 8,189,159 children out of a total of 8,476,450 were vaccinated throughout the country against measles and polio and received booster shots of vitamin A," he said.

The campaign, which was launched on April 7 and estimated to cost 10 million dollars (8.25 million euros) eventually cost 8.5 million dollars, the minister said. It targeted children up to 14 years and is aimed at eradicating polio.

A former Portuguese colony which is home to some 19 million people, Mozambique gained independence on June 25, 1975, only to plunge the year later into a war that was to last until 1992, claiming up to one million lives.

In the past seven years, there have been more than 90,000 recorded cases of measles.